A Summary of Our Holiday Week

“Where on earth have I been?” you might be wondering.

Not wondering?  Well I’m going to tell you anyway.

I’m on holidays which is why I have been cleaning out all the cupboards and decluttering like mad and in the evenings I’ve been creating, printing and cutting out games, then laminating and cutting out games again.

(Game making production line – guillotine, cover with plastic then laminate ready to be cut out AGAIN another day)

Oh yes we did do some fun things.  We went to the Concert Hall to hear the Orchestra.  It was one of the best concerts we’ve been too.  The clown conductor was a wonderful presenter and held his young audience in the palm of his hands for the whole hour.

(This is before the concert.  Isn’t the Pipe Organ amazing!)

(Our Norwegian Clown Conductor)

(I had to sneak all these photos as you aren’t allowed to use cameras in the Concert Hall, even without the flash.) 

We also went to the museum and got to touch a snake and a crocodile – not the stuffed variety either.  Real live and squirming ones.

The boys also created their own set of egg-laying creature matching cards before they headed off to explore the rest of the museum’s exhibits.

Yesterday we went to a puppet show.  We were a little disappointed with this presentation as it didn’t compare to the last performance we saw at the same venue but the boys still enjoyed it.

We also squeezed in some time at the park where we observed these gorgeous peacocks.  I just love their blue colouring.

However all our outings haven’t been for pleasure.  We’ve had a lot of errands to do this week too – winter clothes shopping for the boys, book shopping (as always ), cars to be serviced, punctured tyres to be repaired, a faulty dvd player sent to be repaired (thankfully under warranty) as well as our usual weekly library and grocery trips.

(The boys working with Daddy to change the car’s tyre.)

Somehow the boys have also managed to squish in some playtime with Daddy.  Earlier in the week they build a wonderful train track.

(The boys won’t pack up this train track so I can vacuum.  I can’t figure out why not.  So I’m having to learn to live with a dirty mat.)

Several days later they used this same track as the backdrop for the train animation they produced together (which I then had to learn how to upload to my blog).

Train Crash from Tracey L on Vimeo.

Daddy and Ethan also worked together on a story to go with the animation.

Thomas was busily working on his branch line when all of a  sudden another train, who was working also, appeared from the other direction.  The two trains were speeding towards each other.  They could not stop in time.  So they crashed into each other.

(Those who are familiar with IEW will recognise some dress up techniques in the story above.  IEW is a wonderful writing program.)

Busy busy you see.  All this in five days.

Holidays are exhausting.

We’re taking a week off next week to recooperate from our hoiday!!